Catherine Guillouard (born January 23, 1965, in Cannes) is a French businesswoman.
She has been the chairwoman and chief executive officer of RATP from August 2017 to 30 September 2022.
Educational background
After having finishing her secondary studies in Cannes and a ski diploma (she holds a national diploma as a ski instructor)., Catherine Guillouard obtained a law degree from Sophia Antipolis University in Nice. She then went on to receive a master's degree in political science from Panthéon-Assas University in 1986. She also holds a diploma from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Public Service section), is a 1993 graduate of the École nationale d'administration (Léon-Gambetta class) and has a master's degree in European law from Panthéon-Sorbonne University.
Career
Upon completion of her studies at the École nationale d'administration in 1993, Catherine Guillouard began her career at the Ministry for the Economy in the French Treasury, initially working for the department in charge of the Africa-CFA zone and later in the Banking Affairs Department. She joined Air France four years later where she remained for 10 years (1997–2007), working in a diverse range of positions, from finance to human resources, operations and the management of transformation projects.
Air France (1997–2007) From 1997 to 1999, Catherine Guillouard worked at Air France as a Senior Project Manager. She organised and coordinated the plan to open the company's capital allowing its employees to hold 11% of its shares.
As Deputy Vice-President of Finance Management (1999–2001), she established a new management loop process with a five-year strategic vision and a three-year mid-term plan. She worked together with a team on the revision of management tools, notably on the creation of a tool for the analysis of the air network (ARA) which measures its profitability.
In 2001, she was named Senior-Vice President of Flight Operations. Alongside the Deputy CEO, she managed the Flight Operations division, made up of 4,000 pilots in the Group and a ground staff of 1,200. During the same time, she chaired the committee for the establishment of Flight Operations where all of the company's technical and commercial flight personnel trade unions are located.
In 2003, she was promoted to the position Senior Vice-President of Human Resources and Change Management where she managed four branches: training, recruitment, human resources policy for ground staff and human resources development. She also drove the “Increase change” project for the company's executive board, which together with the “Customers” and “Alliances” projects made up the three pillars of Air France's strategic plan designed by Jean-Cyril Spinetta.
Her involvement in the company's strategy led her to become the head of Air France’s Financial Affairs Division. From 2004 to 2007, she renegotiated new bank lines of credit for €1.2 billion, succeeded in the first convertible bonds transaction totalling €450 million for the Air France KLM Group as well as a conventional bond for €550 million. She also improved the shareholdings monitoring policy and optimised the cash-flow process.
Eutelsat (2007–2013) In 2007, she joined Eutelsat as Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Committee. She led a number of noteworthy initiatives, among which the refinancing of the company in a phased approach amounting to €3.4 billion, acquisitions particularly in Asia and a revision of the company's internal reporting. She was also responsible for the implementation of an innovative satellite insurance policy.
Rexel (2013–2017) Catherine Guillouard was named chief financial director at Rexel from 2013 to 2017, and deputy chief executive officer as of May 2014. As deputy executive director, her mission was to assist the CEO in the implementation of the strategy confirmed by the group's board of directors and to manage the group's financial performance. Her role also covered the group's auditing, internal control, risk management, compliance, legal matters, indirect procurement and mergers and acquisitions.
She actively contributed to defining and implementing the strategic plan, notably regarding the setting up of a digital transformation plan. She also drove a very steady external growth policy composed of 14 operations over three years (2013–2016), in South-East Asia, the Middle East, the United States and France. At the same time as these targeted acquisitions, she managed the company's departure from Latin America, Poland, the Baltic States and Slovakia.